Drinkers Can Track BAC with New iPhone App

A new iPhone application helps users keep track of their blood-alcohol content (BAC) and sends warning messages if data indicates the user is “buzzed” or legally intoxicated.

The Denver Post reported Dec. 2 that the free R-U-Buzzed? application developed by the Colorado Department of Transportation (CDOT) calculates BAC based on information about the user’s weight, sex, type and amount of alcohol consumed, and number of hours spent drinking. If the application determines that the user’s BAC is over the legal limit of .08 percent, an anti drunk-driving warning flashes: “Don’t even think about it.”

The app also includes a “Taxi” icon that provides the phone number of the nearest Yellow Taxi stand using the iPhone’s GPS capability.

The software was developed as part of CDOT’s holiday drunk-driving prevention campaign, “Plan Ahead.” It already has been downloaded more than 3,000 times.

CDOT warns that the app is only for general guidance, and the director of Colorado’s chapter of Mothers Against Drunk Driving is lukewarm about the tool. “I think there’s a lot of room for error, and people just really have to understand it’s an estimate and the point is to plan before you’ve been drinking,” said Emily Tompkins.